


This is a BIG Problem

by bazzledazzlewriting



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-06-27 12:49:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazzledazzlewriting/pseuds/bazzledazzlewriting
Summary: When a mysterious figure pulls Keith into an alleyway and kisses him, Keith has a thousand of different ideas of what it could mean. But the last thing he expected was the figure to be the runaway prince, Lance, using him to hide him from the guards. Soon Keith is the second most wanted man (after Lance) and finds himself on an epic adventure with one of the royals that seemed so untouchable





	1. Chapter 1

The last thing Keith expected to happen that day was a random stranger pulling him into an alleyway and kissing him. In fact, there were many things that would’ve happened before something like that was even a possibility. There was the end of the world, an alien invasion, the sun exploding, the moon crashing into the earth-- Literally anything but a random stranger kissing him. Not just a random stranger, but an extremely hot stranger.  
The moment was followed by heavy footfalls of royal officials walking past them, paying no mind to the two strangers making out. When they pass the stranger breaks away, a huge grin plastered on his face. He had dark brown hair and wore a cape that looked way too nice for the back streets of Arus. Keith scrunched his brow as the stranger lifted his hood back up, giving him a smile that would make anyone swoon. 

“Thanks for saving my skin.” And he’s gone, and Keith finds himself never feeling more confused.

 

* * *

 

“AND THEN HE JUST KISSED ME!” Keith bursts, his face going red as he scrunches up his eyebrows, retelling the events of earlier to his brother, Shiro. “And I forgot the groceries,” Keith whines. 

“Keith this is the tenth time you’ve told me.”

“Well-- I DON’T KNOW.” Keith plops down on the couch, resting his head in his hands, trying to remember what the stranger looked like. 

“He better have been hot for you to forget the food for dinner.” Keith rolls his eyes, tapping his foot and standing up. 

“What if he was a thief?”

“....What?”

“Shiro what if I’m an accomplice for a murder.”

“Uh--”

“SHIRO THIS IS A HUGE CONCERN.” 

“Keith.” Shiro puts his hands on Keith’s shoulders, bending down so they’re eye level.

“Calm down. It’s nothing.” Keith takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, but as soon as he does he sees the face of the stranger again, with his bright, royal blue eyes and dimples. Quiznack, he wasn’t going to let this go, was he?

“Okay.” Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Okay. I’ll let it go. It was nothing. It’s not like it’s a problem….”

“Exactly.” Keith huffs, pouting in his “emo” way, at least that’s how his friend, Pidge described it. He wasn’t exactly up to date with pop-culture or whatever it was. Honestly half of the words that came out of Pidge’s mouth didn’t make sense, yet they were still friends. Who else would Keith be super sarcastic with?

“Now will you please go get the food for dinner.” 

“Finneeeeee.” Keith grabs his cloak and basket, pulling up his socks and worn boots, heading out into the cool autumn air. A chill settles over him and he pulls the cloak closer around himself, wondering how the temperature could change so quickly from, “I’m so hot I’m going to die but this cape makes me look cool so I’m not taking it off” to, “a piece of paper would be warmer than this stupid cloak WHY IS IT SO COLD” in a matter of two hours. Rumor has it that the royal family, the Alteans, had magical powers and could control the weather and it fluctuated with their moods. In all honesty, that was a bunch of rubbish, but people believed what they wanted to believe and Keith wasn’t going to judge them for it.  
Keith’s first stop was the bakery. It was a small shop, a family-owned business from a family known as the Garretts. They were a nice bunch, always trying to strike up conversations even though Keith wasn’t the best at small talk. 

Another one of Keith’s friends worked there. They didn’t talk much outside of the times once a week where Keith was sent out to get bread, but it was always pleasant to talk to Hunk.  
Hunk was one of those people that you would meet and wonder, “why isn’t everyone like you?” He was such a kind and good-natured person and made sure everyone walked out of the door with a smile on their face. Keith isn’t exactly sure how they met, maybe in school or something, but Hunk always made sure to ask Keith how things were going and throwing an extra sweet roll into the bunch with no charge. Plus, Hunk had inside information on the prestigious royal family and stories that made a snort escape Keith’s lips. 

“Keith!” Hunk says with a big smile when he walks in the door. Keith waves, walking up to the counter and setting his basket down. 

“Soooo… the usual?” 

“Yeah,” Keith says, adjusting his cape. Hunk busies himself with preparing the bread, wrapping it nicely and paying careful attention to detail. 

“How are things?” Keith jumps, caught off guard. 

“What? Oh yeah, it’s fine.” Hunk raises an eyebrow. 

“You… okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah.” Hunk finishes wrapping the bread and hands it to Keith.

“Did you hear about the royal family?” Keith raises an eyebrow, counting out the gak to pay for the bread. 

“Uh… no? What happened?”

“Well, apparently the prince ran away again?”

“Wait…. Again?”

“Yeah! The royal officials are searching the whole city from top to bottom and are offering a crazy huge reward for anyone who finds him.”

“How many times is he going to run away? It’s not like he’s oppressed or anything.” Hunk raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing. But yeah nobody has seen him and people already think he’s skipped town or something.”

“Hmm..” Hunk hands him his change. 

“Well, have a good day!”

“You too, Hunk!”

 

* * *

 

Keith quickly finishes the rest of his errands without another stranger kissing him out of the blue. The rest of the day actually seems pretty mundane. Keith helps Shiro cook dinner, Shiro’s boyfriend, Adam, comes over and they all sit in front of the crystal (a magical device that visually displays images of groundbreaking news or videos for entertainment) and watch a movie until Adam and Shiro fall asleep curled up on the couch together, leaving Keith no room to sit. He huffs, sitting on the floor.

“Hey, crystal?” The device beeps. “Show current events.” Images pop on screen, videos flashing here and there. The crystal glows as a soothing voice hums out the latest stories. Bi Boh Bi’s new rom-com, war with the Galra, peace between colonies, all that boring junk. Keith finds his eyes fluttering as he starts to drift into sleep, but not before the next story flashes on the screen.  
There’s the face. The face that has been stuck in his head all day. The face of the mysterious stranger who kissed him without warning. Keith turns the volume up.

“...still no reports on the whereabouts of Prince Lance, however, he was last seen in this location, before he disappeared.”

“Quiznack.” 

“Reports also state that the Prince was last seen with a man who looked like this--” a drawing pops onscreen of a black haired boy with purple eyes. 

“QUIZNACK!” Keith shouts, jumping to his feet, waking up Shiro and Adam.

“What is it Keith,” Shiro mumbles. Keith pauses the crystal. 

“That BOY that you said wouldn’t be a problem? Yeah, he’s a BIG problem.” 

“What?”

“HE’S THE PRINCE AND THERE’S A MANHUNT FOR HIM.”

“Oh. Oh no.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's POV? (I wrote this at 2am if it's sloppy im so sorry)

There was a certain thrill with running away. It was as if for once, Lance could be himself without worrying about starting a international war with everyone and their mother. For just a short moment he could run through the streets with the world off his shoulders, laughing and giggling and make every single impulsive decision he wanted because  _there was no_ _consequences_. 

Lance had to admit, he was glad that the Altea family chose to keep to themselves. Sure, they did public events and cheesy balls with princes and princesses from far off nations, but those spectacles occurred so rarely after their father, Alfor, died. They shut themselves up, barely interacting. The people had started to forget their faces, vaguely remembering facial features and hair color. 

If Lance was lucky, nobody in the royal family would notice his disappearance. It was a big castle and there was always something to do that kept Allura and Coran busy, so he would go unnoticed for hours. He always found himself sneaking into town when he felt the pressure weigh in on him as they arranged plans for his and Allura's coordination. He made friends, a small few he trusted. And by a small few, he meant Hunk. 

So of course he did what he did every time he ran away. He went to the Garrett family bakery. 

"Pike!" Hunk says, using Lance's alias so it wouldn't draw attention. Lance smiles walking up to the counter to greet his friend.

"What are you doing here I thought you had... 'Important Buisness,'" Hunk says, using air quotes. Lance sighs, stealing a banana bread from a basket set out. 

"I did." Hunk raises an eyebrow.

"I can't be in that house anymore."

"Obviously." Lance leans against the counter, munching on his banana bread and flashing smiles and girls he caught staring because he couldn't help but flirt even when he was in distress. 

"Is something wrong? Do you need somewhere to crash for a while?" Lance sighs, finishing the banana bread and setting ten gak on the counter.

"I just wanted to get away for a while. All the responsibility... I can't be there anymore." Hunk hums, turning to help a customer in line, then turns back to Lance.

"So what are you going to do?" Lance sighs.

"That's the problem. I don't know. Allura would be heartbroken if I left, but at the same time I don't feel like I fit in. I don't think I ever will." 

"Don't talk like that." Lance sighs. 

"You're right. I'm just being... me." Hunk puts his hand on Lance's shoulder. 

"It'll be okay, okay." Lance smiles. 

"Thanks Hunk." Lance rests his elbow on the table as Hunk continues to take orders. Soon they quickly run out of loafs of bread and Hunk turns to Lance with a nervous smile.

"No. Hunk you know I'm not as good of a baker as you."

"Pleeeasseee? I'm here alone and you're doing nothing." Lance huffs, heading into the back and pulling out a giant recipe book. Granted, this isn't the first time Lance has cooked for the Garrett bakery. Hunk was in constant need of help whenever his parents had to run out for errands or parties and Hunk used any extra hand he had, and he didn't trust Lance with the money ever since he slipped a couple hundred gak in the drawer. "I want all the money I make to be from my own work, not because you think I'm a charity case," Hunk would argue. Lance sighed, taking out the yeast and sugar, mixing it in lukewarm water and waiting for it to rise. It was a very boring process, making bread, but a small part of Lance did enjoy it. The reward was always greater than the effort put in, and the smell of baking bread was heavenly. 

He continues to make the bread, kneading the dough and getting flour in his hair. He set it aside to let it rise and smiled, happy with his work as he washed his hands and started to head back out to the store part of the little shop, but his eyes connected with Hunk's, who was slowly shaking his head. In front of him was two of his guards, Shay and Rax. Lance slowly walks back into the kitchen, catching snippets of the conversation between Hunk and the guards.

"I haven't seen the prince," Hunk says with a forced smile, giggling nervously. Rax shows him a picture. 

"The princess is really worried about her brother are you  _sure_ you've never seen this guy before?"

"Haha-- maybe I saw him somewhere..."

"Where?"

"Uhh well uh you see it's kinda fuzzy a lot of people come through the store--" 

"Did you see him or not," Shay cuts in. Lance can tell Hunk is cracking. He looks around the room and finds an open window. He climbs out of it, ignoring how ungraceful it was as he literally fell on the ground so hard he was sure a bone had cracked and he started to run, with no idea where he was going.

"There!" He heard Shay yell. There was heavy footfalls behind him and he started to panic. There was no way he could outrun them. They were trained for chases like this, and Lance was not the most avid runner. He scanned the area for possible cover, then he sees a dark alley between two buildings and a boy coming up to it, his mind seeming to be somewhere else entirely. He had long-ish dark hair and a short red cape on, but other than that his attire seemed to be mostly black and full of patches.  

Lance wasn't sure what drove him to do it. Maybe it was because he needed something to hide behind and he needed to blend into the scene or something, but as both him and the stranger neared the alleyway, he grabbed onto the boy's shirt, pulling him into the darkness with him and on a whim kissed him. He was aware of the obvious shock of the stranger as he dropped anything he was carrying, which wasn't much. The guards passed by a second later, paying no mind to them. Lance pulled away, breathless as he looked back up at the person he just kissed. 

He was pretty. He had dark eyes that seemed to be a purple-ish color and his hair fell over his eyes as a bright red blush spread over his cheeks. His mouth was open slightly as he tried to stutter out words. Lance did the best thing he could do whenever he came across a pretty boy that he just kissed. He flirted.

He smiled, closing his eyes slowly and looking up at the boy through his lashes. 

"Thanks for saving my skin," he says with a smile, saluting and running into the shadows, finding a ladder and climbing onto a roof because that's what people on the run did, right? He decides to put as much distance between him and the guards as possible before going back to the ground. He looks behind him and starts walking forward.... only to trample someone. 

"WHAT THE QUIZNACKING QUIZ ARE YOU DOING?" A voice shrieks as bottles crash to the ground, spilling liquids everywhere. They fizzed and Lance felt one burn his foot. He hissed, backing away.

The girl got on her hands and knees, picking up any salvageable bottles and carefully picking up the glass. 

"Here let me help--"

"I GOT IT THANK YOU VERY MUCH," the girl snaps. Lance squeaks, jumping back a little. The girl stands, looking at him with a very much annoyed expression.  She was short, significantly shorter than Lance, and had big round glasses that didn't seem to quite fit her face. Her cheeks were dotted with freckles that almost looked like constellations and she had short hair put into two messy ping-tails. She regarded Lance with a scowl.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Lance hears the ever recognizable heavy footfalls of the royal guards. He mutters a curse word.

"Yeah about that..." He pushes the girl deeper into the shadows and she raises an eyebrow.

"They're looking for you," she says with a smirk. Lance huffs.

"Look I need somewhere to hide out for a while so this can die down a little. Do you have anywhere?" The girl sighs.

"The fates whispered of this possibility but i hoped it wasn't true."

"....What?" The girl grabs the hood of his cloak and pulls him towards a small shop with little trinkets and things in the window, all of them having a sort of mystical energy. She opens the door, pulling them both inside and disappears in the piles of stuff.

"Uh.. cool place?" She comes back out with a sheet in her hand and throws it over Lance's head. Lance shouts.

"What the  _quiznack_ was that?"

"You told me to hide you."

"I said if you had a place where I could  _hide out_." The girl huffs, rolling her eyes, heading back to the counter.

"Then its not my fault when mullet boy finds you."

" _What are you talking about_?" The girl pulls out new bottle from a cupboard and pulls out spices, adding them to the vial. The mixture glows blue, then red. 

"My friend. Keith. He's looking for you."

" _Why is he looking for me_? More importantly, who are you?" The girl rests her chin on her hand almost as if bored. She adds another spice to the mixture, making it a purplish color. 

"Pidge."

"Excuse me?"

"Everyone calls me Pidge so I am Pidge."

"You're... freaky." Pidge gives him a look that says, "No duh."

"What are you doing?" he says, walking over. In the process he almost knocks over a glass ball. Pidge barely even bats an eye, sticking her hand out even though she's at least ten feet from it. The ball hovers in the air for a moment before finding its way back to the shelf.

"Be careful," she says in a monotone voice. 

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Like you've never seen magic before, Prince Asshat."

"Excuse me?" Lance blinks. Pidge looks up, annoyed. 

"Sit in a corner and be quiet or something. I'm working on something." Lance raises an eyebrow. 

"It kinda just looks like you're making pasta."

"ITS NOT PASTA," Pidge shouts. Lance backs off. 

"Then what is it?" Pidge sighs, rubbing her eyes. 

"It's something you're going to need in the future."  _The future..._

"Earlier you said something about the fates... Can you see into the future or something." 

"Yes and it is a pain."

"Why? Wouldn't it be cool? You could avoid disasters and help people."

"Prince Asshat. I don't know if you understand how the fabric of time works."

"Stop calling me that." She sighs.

"I can take precautions, but telling someone their entire future? It ruins everything for everyone." Lance frowns. 

"I don't understand the problem?"

"Avoid one problem, you get one much worse. The best thing you can do is take precautions." Lance raises an eyebrow.

"Like wha--"

"PIDGE HOLY FU--" The stranger is there, and Lance can't breath. 

"YOU!" His eyes narrow.  _Oh quiznack._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge can be a witch right? Oracle? Idk i had an idea for stuff she can do in later chapters i hope it fits in with her character.... probably not but im the author so deal with it i love oracle pidge (also it is now three am from the time I started this *see chapter summary* and i really want to draw witch pidge)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyy its the part where klance actually interacts!

Keith doesn't hold himself back. He pushes forward all of the emotions from that day as soon as he sees that stupid prince with his stupid grin and stupidly soft hair.

"It's your fault," he hisses, crossing his arms. The prince backs away from him, laughing nervously.

"Well this is lovely," Pidge murmurs. Keith ignores her.

"I don't know what your talking about," the prince says. Keith runs his hands through his hair, gasping.

After the announcement was released of a potential kidnapper (Keith) of the prince, the guards insisted on searching every single household within three hundred miles of the spot that this Lance kissed Keith. It was insane, and it wasn't long before neighbors and old school friends (if he could even considered them friends) ratted him out.

Shiro answered the door because it's not like Keith could. He tried to stall them, insisting that there was nothing worth looking for. In a moment of panic, Keith went out through the back door... only to land himself in a circle of guards. Keith would love to tell an amazing tale of how he knifed guards one and two, punched three, and did some voodoo thing that Pidge taught him and took out every single one of the guards, letting him run free which eventually lead him to here.

Instead he found himself surrounded by guards, and froze, too scared to do anything. Adrenaline was pumping through his blood, but it did nothing to help him.

Adam ended up being the one to save him. For some ungodly reason, Shiro managed to fall in love with a dork that had a bit of hands on experience with causing distractions. Especially involving loud booms.

So he did what any sane person would do if their boyfriend’s brother was a wanted criminal for a crime he didn’t commit who was surrounded by guards. He caused a distraction.

Keith could tell by the sound of it and the smoke that it wasn’t an actual bomb. It was just an illusion, a little trick he must’ve picked up along the way. But it did the job. The guards all turned towards it, some of them even going as far as running towards it.

While they were distracted, Keith snuck out of sight, running as fast as he could towards the wall, not stopping. His speed didn’t slow as he neared it, in fact his pace quickened as he got nearer. Behind him he could hear shouts as the guards started to run towards him.

“Iter facere,” Keith mumbled as he neared the wall, hoping beyond hope that the tiny bit of magic Pidge taught him was enough. “Katie Holt,” he said, finishing the incantation. He hit the wall, but it was no longer solid. It felt like he just ran into a wall of syrup as he closed his eyes, wadding through the thick substance. Every time he opened his eyes, he was met with flashing lights that gave him a headache. Just when Keith started to feel like he couldn’t breath, he emerged from the other side, in another alleyway. He stumbled out of the wall, gasping for air. He felt drained, almost too drained to walk, but he stumbled onto the street, heading to the little shop.

Which brought him here, face to face with the prince that messed up his whole life.

“Do I... know you?” The prince says, feigning innocence. Keith’s face goes red in anger as he puts a finger on the boy’s chest, growling.

“Because of you—“ he gasps. The prince backs away, but Keith moves forward.

“I had to LEAVE my HOME, make my brother and his boyfriend WANTED CRIMINALS—“ the prince was against the wall now, his expression wide eyed.

“AND I’M WANTED FOR YOUR SUPPOSED ‘KIDNAPPING.’” And then, that stupidly obnoxious handsome prince starts to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Keith says, sticking out his bottom lip. The prince sighs.

“Nothing just... you? Kidnap me? That’s hilarious.” Keith stumbled over his words, surprised.

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?” The prince licks his lips, humming.

“Hate to break it to you, mullet, but you’re as threatening as a hippo.”

”HIPPOS ARE DANGEROUS!” Pidge can’t hold it any longer. She bursts out laughing. Both boys turn to her.

“Oh don’t mind me. Go on. This is the drama I live for.” She conjures a bucket of popcorn munching happily.

“Okay HOW did you do that?” The prince says. Pidge shrugs.

“Magic.” The prince coughs.

“Uh that’s a lie.” Keith furrows his brow, looking at the prince as if he were an alien.

“Magic isn’t real,” The prince explains. Keith blinks at him.

“Have you been living under a damn rock?”

“Excuse me?” The prince says, blinking.

“Magic is everywhere.” The prince frowns, his eyes narrowing.

“That can’t be true. We don’t use magic in the castle...” Keith raises an eyebrow and Pidge looks like she knows something.

“What is it Pidge?” The prince and Keith say at the same time. They glare at each other.

Pidge purses her lips, looking up at the cealing. “There’s a reason the castle doesn’t use magic anymore...”

”They never used magic,” Lance corrected. Pidge shakes her head.

“No. They did, you just don’t remember.” The prince raises an eyebrow.

“I’m pretry sure I would remeber something like that.” Pidge grunts, running her hands through her hair, no doubt as annoyed as Keith was with the prince.

“No. You wouldn’t.”

“And how would you know?” Pidge looks up at him, a dark expression on her face.

“Because I’m the one who wiped it.”

* * *

“Sir! Sir!” The guard says, running into the palace’s throne room. The room was lit dimly with rich purple curtains covering most of the windows. The castle itself seemed to be almost ancient, coming from the beginning of time when the Galra empire stretched over a small town of less than a thousand people. Since then it has grown over half of the continent, only stopped by one force nod one force alone. Altea. 

Once upon a time in the archaic ages, Altea and Galra worked hand and hand, conquering territories left and write and becoming the biggest duo of the century. They were the best of both worlds, the Galra had the brute force and the Altea had the logic and reasoning to negotiate with neighboring empires. For a time they made a great team, using their combined powers to build the largest empire of them all.

But the Alteans soon saw the flaws in the Galra. They were impulsive, striking first before trying to negotiate peace and abusing different people’s resources. They refused to work with the Galra any longer, starting the hundred year war between the two. And to this day, they still fight, the Galra waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. 

“What is it?” The king says with a bored expression, lounging on his throne, twirling a blade idly. The guard bows. 

“My king... I bring news of the Alteans.” The king perks up slightly, tilting his head towards the guard. 

“What about them?” The guard stands at attention. 

“It appears that the prince has gone missing.” The king raises an eyebrow.

”What does this have to do with us?” 

“Well you see... they believe he’s been kidnapped.” 

“Kidnapped you say?” The guard nods. 

“The princess is willing to do anything to get her brother back.” The king smirks.

”And do you have the location of this prince?” The guard gulps, pulling out his personal crystal. He pulls up files of the Altean news, bringing up pictures of the prince as well as the suspect of his kidnapping. 

“We have identified the kidnapper as the rouge solider 5013571. If the reports are true and the prince is with this solider—“ The king smirks, a devilish look in his eye. 

“Then we can get him to bring the prince to us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay plot twist! 
> 
> Sorry this is short (and late) but here it is!! I’m hoping that I can update this regularly but I actually have no idea because school just started and I’m taking my first AP class this year. We’ll see how that goes. 
> 
> Also headcanon But Adam is the one who taught keef the thing where he did the bomb as a distraction in season 1 okay goodnight


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking into the future all the time SUCKS

Both boys turn to Pidge, shock written across their features. Pidge shifts uncomfortably under their blank stares, wondering if she’s said too much.

“WHAT?” They both say finally. The fact that they spoke in unison seemed to aggravate them, causing them to turn to each other, jaws clenched. Pidge almost, almost rolled her eyes. It was an absolute pain to be looking at the future and how idiotic these fools were in the present.

“The king. He kept it hush hush because it’s not like wiping memories is the cleanest kind of magic... which is why he hired me.”

“Why did you wipe my memories?” Lance says at the same time Keith says, “You do black magic?” Pidge rubs her temples, visions flashing across her vision, showing her all the paths that can come from this exchange. She had to choose her words carefully, or else Lance could end up becoming an evil overlord of the entire planet, fueled with dark magic that makes him more shadow than human. Or Keith could get defensive over Pidge and possibly even kill Lance by accident due to his unpredictable powers. She sighs, looking up at the two of them.

“No,” Pidge says, answering Keith’s question. It’s the safest, even if it might end with Lance stubbing his toe.

“Then what do you mean—“ Pidge takes a deep breath, her brow furrowed with annoyance. Why couldn’t they ever just leave her alone?

“I mean—“ she cuts in. “That I don’t to black magic. It’s as simple as that.” Lance takes a few steps forward.

“Why did my dad want you to erase my memory?” Pidge takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. You’re just going to have to find out for yourself.” Lance clenches his fists and Pidge gets a flash of him punching an ancient mirror, letting free an ancient spirit that kills the three of them. She holds her breath, but Lance just runs his hands through his hair.

“Alright. Okay.” Keith glances sideways at Lance, no doubt wondering why he would give up so easily. He turns back to Pidge.

“What do we do now? You’re the one with the future vision.” Pidge hates it when he does this. He thinks that just because she can see into the future, she knows everything that they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it. The truth is, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even have a clue. Because every time she thinks she has the right path, another one interrupts it.

Future vision was a tricky thing. For most people, it could drive them insane, leaving them mumbling on the floor in some mad house about rocks and catastrophic events. For others, it became a sort of paranoia. They didn’t dare take a step unless all conditions were perfect. They couldn’t step on a single leaf or a town would blow up. If they splashed in a puddle, they thought a meteor was going to wipe out life as they knew it.

Pidge knew one of these kinds of people. He was her magic advisor at first. If she recalled, his name was Slav or something like that. He was always rambling about different timelines and how it was nesasary to take precautions.

But soon, seeing the future got to him. He locked himself away, insisting that he was a danger to himself and others and he couldn’t trust himself to make another wrong choice. It scared Pidge, considering she knew him so personally. But what scared her even more was she had started to develop the gift.

Now she ran a cheesy witchcraft store with trinkets that barely worked but had a nice aesthetic, begging the gods to have mercy on her.

“The prince needs to go home.”

“What?” Keith and Lance both say. Pidge huffs.

“Listen. I know that things are rough right now and it’s going to be tricky getting you back, but you have to go back to be castle. And Keith needs to take you.”

“WHAT?” Both Keith and Lance wear similar expressions of disgust. Pidge rolls her eyes.

“If Lance goes alone then Keith is still wanted for his kidnapping.”

“But I didn’t kidnap him,” Keith says, exasperated.

“Yes but the Princess doesn’t know that.” Lance rubs his brow.

“Why can’t I just tell her that this was all a misunderstanding? She’ll believe me,” Lance says as Keith nods in agreement. Pidge huffs, rubbing her brow. It’s a miracle these two idiots made it this far in life.

“Keith knows the spell to bring you back. You don’t, alright?” She says, figuring it’s the only answer they would understand. Keith huffs, mumbling to himself and Lance turns away, crossing his arms.

“Fine. Mullet can take me home.” Keith’s face turns red.

“Fine.” Pidge sighs, rummaging around to find the relic they need to get into the castle. Before he died, Alfor told her to make sure that nobody could get in the castle unless they had Royal Altean blood. He was worried that upon his death, the Galra might try something, now that the castle was weaker. For years, Alfor’s magic was the only thing keeping their kingdom safe, and even that didn’t save the Queen from being kidnapped and slaughtered.

But Pidge knew that the spell needed to have a loophole in case of emergency. That’s why she opened a small doorway that no more than one person could fit through at a time. She made sure that the door could only be opened with a special key, one that only she would know.

The key was a relic that was always changing, making it impossible for anyone to find it. Some days it would be a rusty old sword, and others it was a whip. For the most part, it varied based on the owner of said relic, but it didn’t change the fact that it was the only way into the castle, and it was vital that they didn’t lose it.

“This will help you get into the castle,” Pidge says, holding the relic out to the boys. To her, it looked like a short, triangular blade.

“How is a sword going to help?” Keith says, scrunching his brow. Lance looks at him.

“That’s not a sword.” Keith scoffs.

“Of course it is. I’ve seen a sword before that is a sword.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s obviously a bow.”

“You. Are an absolute. Idiot.”

“I’m not!” Lance says. “You’re the idiot.”

“That thing has a blade. It’s a sword.”

“Nuh Uh! It’s curved how can it be a sword? And it has a string!”

“IT IS NOT CURVED—“

“ITS BOTH!” Pidge shouts in annoyance. They look at her, confused. They were so much like each other, yet at the same time so vastly different. Even their energies were the same. A bright lilac that was both so cold it gave you frost bite and a burning flame.

“How can it be Both that’s impossible,” Lance says, scoffing. Pidge takes off her glasses for a second, praying to the heavens.

“It’s a relic. In some texts it’s also referred to as a bayard. It changes from person to person so then nobody can ever distinguish it.” Keith raises an eyebrow.

“Why is it important?” Pidge sighs.

“When I put up the warding around the castle, I made sure there was only one way for commoners to get in. There’s a secret door that can only be unlocked if royal blood is draw with this blade.” Lance backs away.

“Oh no no no I do not do blood.”

“It’s your only way in.”

“But.” A glare from Pidge shuts Lance up.

“Any questions?” They both raise their hands.

“None? Okay good.” She pushes the bayard into Keith’s hands, pushing him and Lance out into the street.

“There is a doorway over by my brothers electronics shop that leads to the castle. Go find him and he’ll help you figure out how to get back.”

“But—“ Pidge closes the door and Lance huffs, slumping against the wall.

“Great. Just great.”

* * *

 

The girl wore a big cloak, and under it there was a smirk on her face. Her fingers dazzled with rings, various pouches attached to her belt full of gak that she worked hard for. All you could see was her bright blonde hair, which reached down to her waist, tiny curls escaping her ping tails. She watched as the two boys stumbled out of the shop, one shouting at the owner about something and the other slumping on the ground, muttering about something with a frown on his face. In the first boy’s hands, the boy with black hair, was something shiny and glittery that looked very, very expensive. She could make a good couple hundred gak on that. Maybe even a couple thousand.

The thief had just found her next mark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay new character time! I’ve honestly been so excited to bring this character in I love her so much especially the part she plays in this au bet u can think of who it is ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally some action maybe? This chapter is long overdo i havent updated in like three weeks im so sorry i got backed up with homework
> 
> also the mystery character from the last chapter is sorta revealed here but not explicitly itll say for sure who it is in the next chapter and im sorry if they seem kinda out of character you'll see why ;) 
> 
> (another note sorry) this chapter may be a bit short but I'm hoping to update twice today sooooo

If Keith and Lance were trying to be subtle, they weren't doing a good job at it.

To be fair, the pair was already an odd sight within the streets. Keith and Lance seemed to be polar opposites, like Red and Blue. Lance held himself high, walking with long, drawn out steps. Keith however, hunched over, taking small steps, his eyes darting left and right for guards that might want to arrest him.

There clothes also set them apart. Keith wore a dark black cloak that looked like ink and caused him to fade into the crowd of people walking past. There was patches on it, sewn so that his well loved cape could live a couple more years. He wore fingerless gloves and a tunic with high boots.

Lance, however, wore a light grey tunic and a bright blue shirt. Both looked brand new, as if they were barely worn and his boots clicked on the stone path, much to Keith's annoyance. At one point Keith almost took off the Prince's shoes just to get rid of the annoying sound.

"You look mad," Lance says, frowning at Keith. Keith grips the bayard tightly in his hand.

"I will stab you." Lance clicks his tongue.

"Charged with murder and kidnapping? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Keith huffs, rolling his eyes.

"Can you at least take off the boots?"

"What am I supposed to walk in! The road's wet." Keith shrugs.

"Suffer." Lance gasps.

"You know mullet maybe I will say that you kidnapped me." Keith rolls his eyes.

"Go ahead, your majest--" Lance clamps his hand over Keith's mouth. Keith's face reddens in anger as he pushes Lance's hand away, opening his mouth to say something. Lance puts his hand over his mouth again, pulling him into an alley quickly. It's a tight squeeze, the narrow ally barely able to fit one person, let alone two. Lance looks around, facing Keith before he moves his hand away. Keith looks ready to go on an angry tangent.

Instead he uses common sense.

"What is it?" He whispers. Lance puts his hood over his head, looking back into the street.

"I thought I saw someone following us." Keith raise an eyebrow.

"Who?" Lance bites his lip. He no longer sees the cloaked figure. He huffs. Maybe he was just paranoid.

"I guess it was nothing--" he starts to say, turning back to Keith. Except Keith doesn't answer. His eyes are dancing with a wild and panicked energy and there's a hand clamped over his mouth. Someone has wrapped their arm around his neck, a knife in the other hand. Lance gasps, looking for a weapon. Of course he doesn't have one.

"Let him go!" Lance managed to choke out. The figure didn't respond and Lance saw Keith's grip tighten on something, knuckles white. Lance could only guess it was the bayard. God, why did he trust Keith with it.

Lance looked back up, mustering all the courage within him as adrenaline filled his veins. He could hear a muffle "run" coming from Keith, but Lance did not run. He wasn't going to leave Keith at the hands of the thief with the bayard.

"Let him go," Lance says again, putting as much authority into his voice as possible. The thief chuckles slightly, her hand moving to a place on Keith's elbow and he shouts in pain, dropping the bayard. The thief and Lance look at each other before darting for the bayard, but Lance is too slow. He misses it a beat too late an the thief is running towards the darker part of the alley, climbing a ladder, their cloak swaying as they hoist themselves up gracefully. Keith curses, chasing after them and Lance is close behind, their boots splashing up water and soaking their pants.

When they get onto the roof, the thief is gone. Keith lets out a string of curse words, looking left and right. He groans.

"We lost her."

"Maybe if you had just given me the bayard--" Keith glares at him.

"What? It would've been different? You would've pulled some ninja moves out of nowhere and we would be home free?" Lance grunts, rubbing his brow.

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Because YOU RUINED MY LIFE." Lance scoffs.

"Did not." Keith clenches his fists.

"If you just left me alone, we wouldn't be here and I could continue living my normal life. Now, I'm a wanted criminal!"

"That's not my fault!" Keith fists his hands in Lance's shirt.

"Yes it is!" He growls. And then he melts, hiccuping as sobs escape his chest and he sinks to the ground. Lance gulps, not sure what he was supposed to do. He was standing here, on a roof with a stranger that, just that morning, he kissed, who was crying, and had just lost his ticket home. Well....

It dawned on Lance as quickly as a flash, and was gone in one. He recalled what Pidge said, how the castle may be warded, but those of royal blood could still get in. Lance didn't need the bayard to get in, he needed it to get Keith in. He needed it to clear Keith's name.

Lance immediately hated himself for thinking it. For even imagining leaving the raven haired boy here alone after tearing him from a life he seemed content with, a life he loved.

Lance sinks to the ground with Keith, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man..." Keith looks up, his jaw set. It was weird, how different their lives were. But Pidge made it clear that something drew them together, and there was no way to get rid if it now.

"I... I'm sorry. I was selfish and..." How do you apologize to someone you just met?

"We'll get it back. No matter what, we'll get it back." Keith glares at him.

"And how do you plan on that?" Lance contemplates this, turning the idea over in his head.

"I may know someone."

* * *

 

"Any news on rouge 5013571?" The emperor asks the general bowed at his feet. The general gulps.

"Yes sir." The emperor raises an eyebrow. The general projects images onto the Crystal of servaliance as well as things seen by their own spies.

"We have not yet been able to get access into the rouge's mind yet, however we have confirmed that he is with the prince. They seem to have a device that sounds like a key of some sorts, but we have no idea what." The emperor raises an eyebrow.

"Anything else?"

"The key has appeared to be stolen by this girl." A picture flashes onscreen of a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The emperor frowns.

"So?"

"So if the key is that important, we think they might go after her."

"So she'll lead us right to them," the emperor finishes, a wide grin on his face. 

"What should we do?" The emperor contemplates for a second. 

"Find the girl. Follow her and see if the prince and the rouge show up. If not, kill her and figure out what the key is for." The general nods, saluting before walking out of the room to bark out orders. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little more plot driven and some of what may possibly be foreshadowing (*COUGH*)
> 
> This one also has a small amount of gore (its just a mention of blood and a character dying in a dream) i just figured maybe i should say something...

"Please tell me you can take your lunch break now," the girl pratically begs. Hunk sighs, signaling to one of his family members, who steps out of the kitchen and takes over the cash register without a word. After working tirelessly from the beginning of the day until now, it kind of felt good to sit down with a croissant and look over at his friend, wondering what happened this time. 

"So." She purses her lips, tapping her fingers against the table, back straight. 

"What's wrong?" Hunk asks, looking at her with concern. She brushes a piece of hair behind her ear before rummaging in her bag for something and pulling it out, setting it on the table. Hunk's eyes widen in surprise as he drops his croissant, grabbing the thing and pushing it under the table. 

"ROMELLE!" He whisper yells. Romelle raises an eyebrow, bringing it back out. He huffs, pushing it back under the table. 

"You can't just show off weapons like that?" Romelle gives him a quizzical expression.

"It's a necklace?" Hunk shakes his head. 

"Look I may just work at a bakery but that was definatly not a necklace. That was a royal grade cross-bow."  

"Hunk you're scaring me." Hunk takes a deep breath. 

"Okay even if it was a necklace, do I  _want_ to know how you got it?" Romelle rolls her eyes.

"You know I couldn't kill anyone."

" _I wasn't suggesting that_ ," Hunk says, exasperated. Honestly if he was anything today, it was tired. Not only was he visited by Keith and Lance, now Romelle was here, each of them with their own dramas. He really was tired of drama. 

"I didn't kill anyone," Romelle says grumpily. Hunk knew how the idea of blood and gore bothered her, and he couldn't blame her. Romelle, like Hunk, was content with leading a normal life, even if it meant kneading the same dough for hours and hours. But unlike Hunk, she found herself thrust into action and adventure, even though she would much rather stay home and take a well deserved nap. 

"Where did you get it? Actually no, why did you get it?" Romelle kicks the leg of her chair, messing with her earing. 

"I don't know! I guess just..." She sighs. "It looked shiny and expensive." Hunk raised an eyebrow. 

"Your point is?" 

"It was easy to steal alright! The guys... they were making complete idiots of themselves and were completely unaware of everything. And the one looked well off I figured they wouldn't miss it too much if I stole the necklace and made a few gak!" Hunk rubs his brow. 

"Dear god you need a moral compass."

"Hunkkkk," Romelle whines. Hunk sighs. He knows what all this is about. Romelle... Romelle wasn't one to step outside the lines. She  _never_ stepped out of the lines. She was one of those kids that was too scared to get in trouble, so she never did anything that would cause her to get in trouble. She was always like that, from the moment Hunk met her. 

But there was a specific day in her life when that all changed. It was the day her younger brother got sick.

Hunk didn't know Romelle's family well. She knew that there was some sort of family health problem that caused her mother and father to die at young age when she was about fifteen or sixteen. He knew that the poor girl took it upon herself to take care of her younger brother, hoping beyond hope that the sickness skipped a generation. 

Romelle didn't color outside the lines, except when it had to do with your brother. 

"Is he getting worse?" Hunk whispers gently. Romelle nods hopelessly. Hunk sucked in a breath, tapping his fingers. 

"Romelle... I'm sorry." Romelle sighs, hanging her head. 

"If I can just get him a doctor...." Hunk chews his lip. 

"So you're going to sell it?" Romelle nods, playing with the chain of the necklace. Of course, to Hunk it looked like she was playing with the string of a crossbow, so it was safe to say that he was more than a little nervous. Romelle throws her hands up.

"I don't know! I thought it was just a stupid necklace--"

"But now you're not so sure." Romelle nods. Hunk tries to think. 

"You could try to give it back to them." Romelle wrinkles her nose.

"Are you kidding? This is a city full of people I don't think I could find two idiots that were arguing over clicking boots." Hunk huffs. 

"You could post a notice.." Romelle raises an eyebrow. 

"If you saw a crossbow and I saw a necklace, I doubt they saw a necklace or a crossbow." Hunk huffs again.

"We could go see Pidge. She usually knows about this kind of stuff." Romelle contemplates this. She gets an odd, prickly feeling from behind her, as if eyes are boring into the back of her head. She brushes it off as paranoia. 

"I guess I could do that..." Hunk bumps his hand against her shoulder.

"There's the Romelle I know!" She chuckles, rolling her eyes at Hunk.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're just like... an amazing person?" Hunk chuckles. 

"I'm sure you have. On many occasions. Lance also may have mentioned it. And Keith." Romelle whistles. 

"That's a lot of friends." Hunk laughs. Romelle's stomach growls. 

"Is there any way I can get a donut?"

* * *

Romelle walks out of the Bakery, a piece of paper in one hand, the necklace in the other. On the piece of paper Hunk had written out the adress for Pidge's shop, explaining Pidge's odd behavior. Romelle's eyes had widened in both curiosity as well as bewilderment as Hunk explained that Pidge was one of the few people gifted with the Sight left. He said that sometimes she would mumble about futures and stuff and sometimes was annoyed when she got visitors, but assured that she really was an amazing person. And with that he sent her on her way, giving her a dozen donuts to share with her brother, as well as some gross one with green frosting for Pidge. He said at this point in his life he didn't question it, he just made the donut. 

Romelle was barely down the street when she felt the bad feeling prickle at her senses again. She looks around her, drawing her cloak close. Daylight had almost completely faded and it had started to grow cold. She squinted at shadows, but she couldn't make out anything. She sighed, shaking her head and continuing on her way. But this time she let a knife slipped into her hand. She hated the way it felt, but she assured herself that she wasn't going to hurt anyone with it. Just scare them into leaving her alone. After all, it wasn't like she was super tall and built. 

The feeling didn't fade and Romelle started to lose a sense of where she was. There was no longer an intended place, but rather just a disire to get away from the shadows chasing her. She turned on winding roads, speed walking in hopes that whoever was following her would lose her. Except it didn't work.

Finally she just simply stop, turning around and looking into the street. 

"I-I'm not afraid of you," she tried calling out in a desperate attempt to scare off whoever was coming after her. She heard something scurry past and she squeaked. She looked around, only to find it was a couple of mice. She sighed in relief. 

That's when the hand clamped over her mouth. She started to scream, kicking and thrashing, swinging her blade wildly. She inhaled a sickly sweet scent and the next thing she knew, she was out cold. 

* * *

Shiro and Adam were the ones who heard the screaming. It was the kind of scream that made all the hairs stand up and your stomach to twist. It was the kind of bloodcurdling scream that told you to run in the opposite direction, or, in the case of Shiro, run directly towards it. 

"SHIRO!" Adam calls out, chasing after him. Fear pounded at his heart, wondering what exactly they were running into. Shiro was always the impulsive one, not even hesitating to do what he needed to do for the greater good. Adam, however, questioned everything, his heart stuttering in his chest, begging him to turn away. 

Except he never could. He would never turn away, especially if it meant helping Shiro. 

They turn onto the street where they can make out shadows of people and the thud of a body hitting the ground. Both their eyes widened and Shiro didn't even need to look at Adam before Adam summoned his magic into the streets, bringing the alley into full illumination. 

Magic was a weird thing within the universe. It had strengths and weaknesses and picked and chose its people carefully, making sure to give them power, but not too much power. 

Keith was a Pyrokinetic. He never needed to think about it to bring the fire to existence. Shiro was able to master the elements of the wind, sometimes blowing a calming breeze through the house whenever everyone got too stressed. Keith's friend, Pidge, was a Sightseer, having the rare gift and curse of seeing into the future. 

Adam's power was that of illusion. He could make people see things that weren't there, hear things that were never said, feel things they never felt. There was no question about it that he hated it, hated how much he could take from people with just a single thought, a single wish. He hated how the powers made him the villain of everything. 

He vowed to himself that he would never hurt anyone with his powers. Ever. 

Adam was pulled out of his thoughts as he saw the two thugs pull out knifes. They were standing over the body of a girl. She looked young and appeared to be holding something, but he couldn't tell what it was. It's appearance kept shifting. 

He felt a shift in the air as Shiro darted towards the two thugs. He rushes after him, his face set with determination. Shiro looks back at him and Adam understands. The wind whips around them, a strong gust blowing the knives out of the thugs hands. Almost in complete unison, Shiro and Adam slide to the ground, grabbing the weapons and turn to face the guards, barely breaking a sweat. There's the thrum of magic in Adam's veins as the adrenaline brings all his power forward. He feels a tingle in his arm, the kind of sensation he gets when Shiro uses his powers in great masses. He focuses, letting the magic seep together, both of them full of energy.

There was a special kind of relationship that Adam and Shiro had. The kind of relationship where everything was interwoven and for one to be without the other... it felt like half of a whole was missing.  _Sociis_ , as some people called them. Two people that were so completely and totally made for each other that they became stronger as one. They were always complete opposites, both in the way they handled things, to their personalities, to their magic. People who could control light gravitated to those with control of shadows. Those with powers of the sky gravitated to those with powers of the earth. Those with powers in the physical realm drifted to those with powers in the mental realm. 

The most powerful of all of these, however, was those of fire and ice. Two elements, so completely and totally different and forces so chaotic that they could take each other out. It was a dangerous pair when fighting against one another, but when fighting alongside each other, the  _sociis_ were unstoppable. 

The thugs run away, using what little common sense they have left. Adam and Shiro are breathing heavily, leaning against each other. The girl they attacked is on the street, stirring slightly. Adam and Shiro don't hesitate before rushing to her, picking her up and bringing her into their small cottage. 

They lay her on the couch, the house becoming a flurry of movement as they gather ingredients for medicines and teas. Shiro is already treating her head injury when Adam comes in with different elixirs to help with the drugs. 

 "What do you think she was doing?" Shiro asks, setting the bloodied cloths aside. Adam shrugs. 

"They probably just jumped her. It didn't seem like she was prepared." Shiro frowns. Adam sees the shifting object again and draws his brows together. He reaches for it, holding it up into the light. 

"What is it?" Shiro asks, tilting his head. 

"I don't know..." Shiro tilts his head. 

"It kinda looks like a knife. Or a weapon of some sorts." The girl suddenly sits up, causing Shiro and Adam to involuntarily scream. The girl sees the object in Adam's hands and rips it off of him. Adam and Shiro back away. 

"Where am I?" she says, sitting up. She looks nauseous as she lays back down.  

"Calm down. We're trying to help." She rubs her eyes. 

"What happened?" Adam hears the pity in Shiro's voice when he speaks. 

"We saw you get attacked in the alleyway." The girl sighs, looking down at the object in her hands. 

"Is there a reason why they went after you?" She shakes her head. Adam frowns, studying the object in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" She holds it tighter, as if defensive. Adam holds his hands up.

"Sorry! Sorry. It's just... it's strange magic." The girl looks slightly intrigued. 

"What do you mean?" She tilts her head. Adam stuffs his hands in his pockets. Shiro is also looking at him with a similar expression. 

"Just... someone very powerful must've put an illusion spell on it?" She furrows her brow. 

"Do you... know what it is?" She shakes her head. 

"I stole it off these two boys." Shiro chuckles a little. Adam bites his lip, standing up. 

"What kind of idiots let something this complicated get stolen?"

* * *

 

"I can't believe we lost the key," Keith says, sinking into the bed. After searching for the thief for what felt like hours, Keith and Lance had finally given up. It was way too late for this and both of them were dragging with exhaustion. They pulled their hoods low and went to the nearest hotel. The hotel seemed kinda shady, with its musty air and peeling wallpaper, but they figured it was probably best if they stayed somewhere that wasn't top notch considering Keith was a wanted criminal. 

"You mean  _you_ lost the key," Lance says, taking off his boots and sitting down. His feet ached and he could feel his shoulders weighing him down. Keith glares. Lance rubs his eyes with exhaustion. Jeez he really needed to sleep. It was only then that he realized there was a major problem. 

"Uh Keith?" Keith rubs his eyes with annoyance. 

"Yes Your Majesty?" Lance frowns. He doesn't like the way Keith says that. Nor when anyone else says it. 

"There's only one bed." Keith looks over at Lance, and mumbles softly, "Oh." There's a beat of silence, the only noise heard being their slow breaths. Finally, Lance speaks. 

"Just... stay on your side. Okay?" Keith rolls his eyes and nods, curling under the covers with his back facing Lance. Lance does the same, pulling some of the covers off of Keith in the process. Keith glares, pulling on the covers again. Hard. 

"HEY!" Lance says as he almost falls out of bed from the force of it. He climbs back in, this time taking a modest amount of covers for himself. Okay that was a lie. Maybe he took a little more than a modest amount, but Keith was too tired to care. He usually turned into a heater when he slept anyway. 

"Night Your Highness." Lance huffs. 

"Night Mullet."

* * *

 

Keith didn't know what happened. One minute there was nothing but a comforting darkness. It was blissful and his weary body sank into it gratefully. 

The next minute he was standing over a body. There was a knife in his hand and Keith didn't have to know the context to know that it was his fault. 

He sank to his knees and the face started to take form and he gasped, recognizing the dark skin and brown locks.  _Lance_. 

Lance coughed and sputtered, leaning against Keith, eyes wide and trusting. Keith gulped, except he didn't. All the emotions he felt welled inside him seemed to be hidden, his body nothing more than an empty shell. 

"Keith," Lance whispered, faintly grabbing his arms. Keith's features didn't move, but inside of him Keith felt a wave of furry and sadness and confusion, all coming forward in a massive explosion. He felt like he was choking on the emotions, but his body wouldn't let them come forward. It was as if his soul was withering away. 

"Keith come back come on please...." Keith stood up and Lance looked up at him, seeming lost, his blue blue eyes staring at him, wide with fright. And Keith hated it. He hated it when people were scared of him. He never wanted to scare them he just... he just wants a friend. 

Keith didn't even realize it was happening until the knife was driven down. Inside, he screamed in agony, whimpering. He felt a pounding behind his temples and it felt like someone was branding him with an iron stamp. Only when he focused on it did he realize they were words.

_Bring me the prince._

_Bring me the prince._

_Bring me the prince_. 

Keith clamped his hands over his ears, shaking his head. He tried to stop the voice, tried to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away. It thrummed on and on, ordering him. Each time the phrase was repeated it got harsher until it almost felt like a whip. 

When he opened his eyes all he saw was fire. It was everywhere, burning bright and hot. Keith felt it singe his skin. There was an odd shape in it, and only when Keith studied it did he realize they were ghostly faces. 

He saw Shiro, screaming in agony. He saw Adam with tears streaking down his face. He saw Hunk, gasping for breath. He saw Pidge desperately looking for a way out of the flame. One by one he counted them, all of them people he loved, all of them suffering because of him. 

He felt something icy touch his shoulder and he recoiled. In the back of his mind he could hear a voice, calling for him distantly, but it was drowned out by those same four words. 

 ** _Bring me the prince_**. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay adam's power being the power of illusion is purely based on the fact that *S7 SPOILER* I'm hoping he completely faked his death and shows up in season 8 like "Hah. Miss Me?"
> 
> also he can't make out a definitive shape for the bayard because of his powers so yeahhhh
> 
> also im a sucker for tropes soooooo sorry


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some magic stuff happens,,,,

Lance has always been cold. For as long as he could remember, there was always a chill settled deep in his bones that made him reach for a sweater and bundle up in scarves.

The summers were almost a relief. The warm air flooded around him, taking the frost away from his fingers as he breathed in a deep breath, no longer having the stuffy nose that plagued him all winter. He was no longer stuck inside of that stupid castle with its high ceilings and cement walls. He could roam the outdoors, go soak up the suns bright rays as it warmed his skin. It was for this reason he was always known as the Summer Prince.

Since as long as Lance could remember, he stayed in the castle during the winter months, barely seeing the outside, never seeing the snow as it blanketed the world in white and made icicles dangle from trees and the castle spires.

When summer turned into autumn and autumn turned into winter, sickness fell upon him. At least, that’s what everyone said it was. He was colder than ever and constantly had some sort of sickness. It was so bad that there were some days he couldn’t even move it hurt so bad. There were days when the cold was so cold, it burned like a fire.

This was not that same burn.

Lance bolted up, the haziness of sleep gone in an instant as smoke filled his lungs. He coughed, squinting through the haze. He heard the roar of flames and panicked, standing up. He shouted, looking down on himself, looking for any damage from the flames, but miraculously, he was unscathed.

He coughed, for a moment too frozen to do anything as he looked into the flames, everything inside of him telling him to run. Except…

“Oh dear god—“ Lance almost screams at the sight. Just next to where Lance had been lying on the bed was Keith, twisting and thrashing, still in a fitful slumber, moaning the word “no” over and over. And he was engulfed in flames.

Lance didn’t even think. He ripped the sheets off the bed, stepping on the flames to get rid of them. He gasped as one touched his skin, expecting the searing pain of a burn to hit him. Except it never came. The flames recoiled, sizzling slightly. Lance’s heart hammered in his chest as he felt like he was being pulled in every direction.

Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it would kill him, but he made a promise to himself that he would get Keith to the castle and he would make sure he payed Keith back for all the trouble he caused him.

Lance lurched for Keith, standing beside him. He shied away from the flames, scared of getting burnt. He tentatively reached a hand forward, sticking it into the flames.

It was an odd sensation. It was like when you’ve been out in the cold too long and you finally sit beside a warm fire, your fingers and toes numb to pain and temperature.

But the flames didn’t burn him. Not wasting another moment, Lance grabbed Keith’s arm, gritting his teeth slightly as he felt a slight burning sensation, but it was too late now. He shook Keith’s arm, calling his name. Begging him to wake up. Panic started to rise in Lance’s throat as he looked around for a solution.

Then, suddenly, the pain in his hands, a result of touching Keith’s boiling skin, went away and he gasped, looking down. The part where Keith’s skin met his was cold, extremely cold. An almost lifeless cold. The same cold Lance was in the winter.

Lance didn’t know a single thing about magic. He didn’t know the first thing about the way it worked and how power was distributed or how it could even be controlled. But in that moment, Lance didn’t care. He closed his eyes, pulling from the pit of his stomach, desperately hoping for this to work.

The fire died in a single breath and Keith bolted up, his fingers turning purple and his nose red, shivering.

* * *

Keith heard his voice. Through the fire. His arm felt numb, the entire thing freezing cold, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t go away.

In the back of his mind, he knew this was a dream. He knew that he hasn’t hurt any of these people…. yet.

Keith has always been different. In fact, that’s what Pidge first told him when he met her. She scrunched her face up, searching him for some sort of banner that said why he was different. It scared him, especially when all she offered was “you’re different” when he asked what she was doing. And as the voice pounded in his head, he wondered how different he was. What if he was made to be a weapon? Would he really hurt Lance? What happens if he didn’t obey the voice?

Suddenly, the fire died, going as quickly as it came. Keith gasps, almost crumbling to the ground as he feels ice in his chest. He takes a shaky breath, his eyes flying open.

He’s met with Lance, except something seems almost different. Keith’s gaze meets Lance’s and he realizes what it is.

“Your eyes….” he whispers, his entire body shaking. Whatever spell seemed to be cast on Lance vanished as he gasped.

“Oh my god Keith you’re freezing cold!” He jumps away from him, grabbing the blanket thrown on the ground and quickly wraps it tightly around Keith, who didn’t realize he was shivering. As Lance wraps the blanket around him, his fingers brush Keith’s jaw. They feel like ice cubes. Keith hisses, jumping back.

“Keith I’m sorry—!” Keith grabs Lance’s hand, pulling the covers around them so they’re both surrounded in their warmth. Lance’s eyes widen.

“Y-you’re freezing cold,” Keith says, shivering as he wraps his arms around himself. He still can’t get that dream out of his head. Of lance looking at him with those wide blue eyes. Speaking of which…

“What exactly happened?” Lance gulps. Looking a little nervous.

“I don’t know! I woke up and you… well you were on fire.” Keith frowns.

“Then why is it so cold?” He says, pulling the covers around himself tighter. Lance had to admit, he looked kinda cute.

Lance looks at the ground. His eyes, the eyes that startled Keith when he first woke up, the royal blue eyes that turned a shocking light blue that was almost white, turned were turning back to their usual dark color. The chill of the room was fading.

“I don’t know! I panicked and I thought…” Keith raises an eyebrow. “I just thought of winter and… and then it was cold.” Keith raises an eyebrow. Lance looks away, blushing slightly.

“So you just… willed it to be cold?” When he put it like that it did sound ridiculous.

“I guess….” Keith furrows his brows in thought. That could only mean—

“Are you sure you’ve never done magic before?” Lance nods.

“Positive.” Keith runs his hands through his hair, bowing out a puff of air.

“Well… you just did.”

* * *

Pidge had been expecting them, but it didn’t change the fact that she was surprised when they knocked her door down. She tried her best to seem like she didn’t care, even though the newcomers were prickling her fight or flight response. She knew what they wanted, she knew what questions they were going to ask, and most importantly, she knew that they weren’t friendly. 

“Feel free to look around,” she said boredly, flipping a page in her book. She heard the man growl as he weaved his way over to her. It really was hilarious, considering he was such a large and muscular man, forced into this tiny shop with crowded shelves and tiny isles. One one occasion he knocked something down, a crystal ball, the same one Lance almost broke. Pidge sighed, pulling the same trick she pulled earlier.

“Really you’re not even threatening at this point you’re just making a fool of yourself.” The soldier glares, pulling a sword from his belt.

“You will come with me.”

“Or else what?” Pidge says, cocking her hips as she takes a bite of an apple. The guy was at least two feet taller than her and was getting increasingly more annoyed. But he kept his distance in the same way most people did. Pidge had a rare power, people stayed away from her. She was like a black cat, everyone thinking she would bring bad luck when she was nothing more than a cat.

“You don’t want to find out,” he says with a smirk. Pidge rolls her eyes, leaving her apple on the table.

“Hmm let me guess. Torture, pain, some more torture, just enough to push one to the brink of death, but not enough to deliver the fatal blow, correct?” He shrugs.

“I could kill you if I want to kill you.” Pidge smirks, touching a display of pebbles. They were cool to the touch, warming as her fingers brushed them.

“But you won’t do that. Because you _need_ me.”  He scoffs.

“We’ll see.” Pidge purses her lips, her heart hammering in her chest. There were a thousand different ways this played out, and only one of them ended with her dead. One chance out of thousands, yet her heart still hammered at the thought. What if this was the day she died? Matt would kill her… again. And Hunk would be sad. She huffs.

“You will tell me where the Prince and Galra Soldier are.” Pidge almost drops the stones she holds carefully in her hands.

“So THAT'S what he is.” The Galran doesn’t back down.

“You will tell me what the key you gave the two is for,” Pidge feels her heart rate quicken. If those boys already lost the only key to the castle—

“And You will pronounce your loyalty to Emperor Lotor.” Pidge snorts.

“Like hell I am.”

“Excuse me.”  Pidge throws the three rocks on the ground, muttering the incantation for a spell. Fog fills the room and the Galra Soldier sputters, stumbling and bumping into things. Pidge leaps over the counter, hitting a panic button that lays underneath it. Matt had them installed a few years back and they immediately alerted him, Shiro, and Hunk that something was happening and to expect her within the next twenty four hours or else something was wrong. There never seemed to be a time they really needed them, until now.

Pidge ran out the back door, her cloak fluttering as she darted down the street. Her glasses were falling off her face and she stubbornly pushed them up, turning down the streets until she found where she needed to go. She climbed down in the sewer, trying to ignore the awful smells, and only then did she slow down, catching her breath. That was a close one. If she hadn’t restocked on those rocks a while ago, she would’ve been dead.

Pidge examines the contents of a small backpack that she grabbed on her way out. There’s not much, a few herbs to cast spells and some potions along with her favorite spell book. She digs through it, looking for the thing she made a while ago with a glowing screen. It allowed her to contact Hunk, since he’s the one she gave the other one to. Already she could see it buzzing with notifications, but not before she she felt an arrow buzz past her ear. She jumped, dropping the device.

She turned just as another arrow left the string of the bow, this time aimed straight at her shoulder. The world seemed to slow as she felt magic and adrenaline course through her. She dodged the arrow and ducked to the ground, cursing. She rummages through her bag, looking for her preferred magical weapon. Except of course it wasn’t there because she gave it to Keith and Lance. She huffs, finally finding what looked like a twig. It wasn’t hers so it wouldn’t work well, but it was better than nothing. She holds it in her hand and it expands into her brother’s staff. She stands, throwing her bag over her shoulder and looking at the dark suspiciously.

Another arrow flies out. There’s a hint of movement and Pidge smirks, heading for it. She can feel the magic from her weapon seeping into her fingers and she feels like she’s flying.

“Come on….” She grunts. Another arrow. She darts for the area it fam from. Shouting out the first word that comes to mind.

“ _Crescere_!” She shouts, the spell coming naturally paired with her brother’s staff. There’s a shout and the sound of a bow clattering to the floor as vines curl around her attacker. She walks up to them, shaking her head.

“Maybe now you’ll learn your lesson, won’t you?” She says almost mockingly.

Never in a million years could she have foresaw what came next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW!! Idk if this was clear BUT Lance has ice powers and when he uses them his eyes turn a very light blue just thought i should elaborate


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gah! I’m posting this kind of late I had a supper busy day today but here it is finally! Sorry if things don’t make much sense I didn’t really proofread this soooooo uhhhhhh
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

The next couple days at the Garret Family Bakery were painfully slow. Every second seemed to last a million years and Hunk felt himself grow more and more anxious with each passing minute. Each minute ticked by, the hand on the clock moving a millimeter at a time, but there was still no word from Pidge. 

Hunk knew Pidge could handle herself. He's  _seen_ her handle herself. For Pidge, growing up with such rare powers meant that people were constantly looking at her funny, as if expecting her eyes to glow green and her to bellow out a prophecy in a voice that wasn't her own. 

But her powers were far from that. She knew everything everyone was going to say, could answer questions before they were asked, and expected attacks that seemed to be almost random. Pidge was  _powerful_ , but there was a bad feeling that settled deep in Hunk's stomach. The type of feeling that has been brewing ever since Lance's guard came in that morning, looking for him. 

It's been three days since Pidge sent out the distress signal. Hunk tried to contact her multiple times with the devices Pidge made them, but either they weren't working or Pidge couldn't get to the device. Except that didn't make sense Pidge was  _always_ attached to that thing. It was like it was just a part of her hand. That just made the feeling even worse. 

But Pidge isn't the only thing he's worried about right now. 

Lance was missing. Not like, "escape from the castle for a day and come back at the end of the night" kind of missing. Not the kind of usual missing when Lance feels like he's going to suffocate in the castle that serves as a sort of prison for him during the colder months. 

No. This was the kind of missing that ended in dead bodies. This was the kind of missing that was pushing towards a week, something that's never happened before. This wasn't just Lance being Lance anymore. Something had to have happened, and Hunk isn't sure if he wants to know where this ends. 

Then there was Keith. Hunk doesn't know how or why but  _somehow_ , Keith Kogane managed to land himself in trouble. Not the kind of trouble where they let you off with a slap on the wrist for stealing an apple from a fruit cart. No this was much, much worse. This was the kind of trouble that also ended with dead bodies. The kind of trouble that ended with public hangings or exile. The worst part is, Hunk knows it wasn't his fault. He  _knows_ that Keith would never hurt the prince. Keith would never hurt anyone. But if the princess found Keith Kogane, with or without the prince, she was sure to strike an arrow right through his heart without fault. 

There was only one person in the universe who would know how to fix this. The only person that would know how to fix any of this. The only other person who might know where Pidge or Keith is. 

"Hunk?" Shiro says, his face showing hints of confusion. If Hunk was being honest, him and Shiro didn't really hang out often. Hunk knew who he was considering Keith was his brother and he was also friends with Pidge's brother, but he and Hunk never really talked before without one of the two previously mentioned. It was awkward and Hunk knew it, but he didn't care. Hunk coughs. 

"I brought donuts. Also, can I come inside?" Shiro must've sensed the urgency in Hunk's voice as he stepped aside, his features slightly worried. They go into the kitchen where Hunk sets the donuts down and takes a seat. From another room he hears muffled talking and he almost sighs in relief. He can't make out who it is, but he gives himself the benefit of the doubt and says its Keith and Pidge. 

"Hunk is something wrong?" Shiro says seriously, sitting across from him. Hunk chews his lip. 

"You got Pidge's distress signal, right?" Shiro furrows his brow.

"What?" Hunk stares at him, wide eyed. 

"The distress signal. From three days ago?" Shiro's eyes widen even more. 

" _Three days_?" 

"Uh yeah. I haven't heard from her I'm starting to get worried...." Shiro runs his hands through his hair, eyes getting wider and wider. 

"Takashi!" someone shouts, running into the kitchen, out of breath. He has dark brown hair and wire glasses and his eyes are as wide as Shiro's. Behind him Hunk hears the patter of footsteps from someone else, although he has no idea who until she comes into view.  _Romelle_. 

"What?" Shiro says, jumping off. Hunk is pretty sure that Shiro's about to go on a full on panic. Hunk expects the guy to answer, but instead, it's Romelle who answers. 

"It's Keith." 

* * *

The Shirogane/Kogane only really had two bedrooms. Unless you counted the laundry room with a fold up bed, but that was hardly comfortable for any normal human being to sleep in. 

The first room was Shiro's. Of course it was considering he was one of the residents of the house. Which made sense why the other room was Keith's. 

Adam knew that he couldn't let Romelle leave. Someone was chasing after her, and it was all tied with that mysterious object she held so tightly. Him and Shiro both knew that they should have just left her to be on her way after she healed, but she seemed to have no intention of facing whoever attacked her again, and Shiro and Adam weren't ready to see her get hurt again. Not until they figured out just who exactly was after her. 

That lead to the inevitable. Romelle couldn't very well take Shiro's room because well, Shiro kind of needed it. And they weren't about to force her to sleep on the couch every night. 

So that's how Adam ended up showing Romelle to Keith's room. Shiro was going to come too, but someone was at the door and he assured them he would be back soon. 

So Romelle and Adam ventured into Keith's room. If you could really call it Keith's. The walls were bare, not a single decoration in sight. His bead was made neat and tidy, as if no one had lived there for almost a hundred years. the desk was organized, all books and things tucked neatly in the drawers or the bookshelf, which had a scarce amount of books. 

The only,  _really_ personal thing within the room was a photo on the dresser. It was older, back when Keith was probably around thirteen or fourteen and him and Takashi first started dating. They went to some festival together because Adam wanted to get Keith to like him and stop looking so mad whenever he held Shiro's hand. Shiro told him it wasn't a big deal, that Keith acted that way around everyone at first, but that didn't stop Adam from trying. 

At the begining of the day, Keith seemed to want nothing more than to go home. He was quite, a frown on his face the entire time. It was only when Adam tried to do some cheesy romantic gesture to Shiro that involved an ice cream disaster that Keith finally laughed. Adam considered it a win. 

The picture was from the end of the night, all of them smiling, Keith's smile a little more hesitant. Right after that picture Keith turned to Shiro and said, "Marry him." Shiro's face was so red that Adam couldn't help but laugh. 

Of course that was the first thing in the room Romelle gravitated towards, a small frown on her face. 

"That's Keith," Adam says, sensing her question. "He had to leave because um..." Adam coughs. "Reasons, but he's Shiro's brother." Romelle's frown deepens.

"I've seen him before." Adam walks towards her. 

"I mean I guess you would've because he's all over the crystal--"

"No," Romelle says firmly. Adam gives her a confused look. 

"I've seen him before I..." She bites her lip, looking down at the magic artifact in her hand. She blows out a puff of air. 

"I saw him with... I actually don't know who. He seemed vaguely familiar, like someone I should know but I don't..." She frowned even more. 

"...When did you see him?" Adam asks tentatively. He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about Keith. Over the past few years Adam started to see him as part of his own family, and he was scared of what might be happening to him. 

Romelle looks back at the artifact. "Three, maybe four days ago?" Adam frowns. 

"Was he okay?" Romelle looks a little guilty. 

"Well I mean... I was kind of holding a knife to his throat while his boyfriend or something screamed at me."

" _What????"_ Adam did not expect this turn of events. Romelle purses her lips. 

"This thing?" She says, holding up the artifact. "I stole it from him and that other boy." Adam's eyes widen.

"Do you think he might still be there?" Romelle shrugs. 

"I don't know, but I think so." Adam's heart pounds. This... this thing. If Keith needed it... they had to get it back to him. 

"Takashi!"

* * *

"Allura we're going to find Lance stop pacing and sit down. You look like you're going to collapse." Allura turns to glare at her advisor. She knows Coran is only trying to help, but that didn't make his nagging any less annoying. 

"He's usually back by now, Coran." Coran shrugs.

"Maybe he needed a bit more time. After all, these are the last few weeks before the winter solstice."

" _That's why I'm worried_." Allura huffs, stopping her pacing, much to Coran's relief. 

"It's nothing to worry about. I'm sure if you were stuck in the castle all winter you'd want to soak up as much sun as possible." Allura huffs, sitting down on her bed. 

"What if he's hurt, Coran?" 

"He's not going to be hurt, Allura." Allura huffs in exasperation. 

"Of course he is! He's been kidnapped by that black haired boy!" Coran shakes his head. 

"Those are just speculations Allura--"

"Yes but--"

"Allura." Coran puts his hands on her shoulders, stopping the rant from spiraling out of control. They've had this conversation many times over the past few days. 

"Look I know you're worried but I'm sure everything's fine. And anyways, the guards picked up a lead they'll find him in no time." Allura sighs, bowing her head. 

"Let's just hope he gets back by the winter solstice."

* * *

"NO!" The emperor shouts in exasperation, slamming his fist against the wall. His guard jumps, startled. 

"What is it?" The emperor runs his hands through his hair, taking a deep, steadying breath. It was a minor hiccup, but nothing that he couldn't work around. Of course, this would make things more difficult, especially when the rouge solider found his  _Socii._ The solider might not know it yet, but that relationship was the only thing standing in the emperor's way. 

"Rouge 5013571 is proving to be more difficult than we initially thought."

"Oh?" The emperor turns to his body guard, figuring he may as well humor him. 

"You see... it appears that the  _Sociis_ bond is starting to form between the prince and the rouge." The guard raises an eyebrow. 

"So?" The emperor rubs his brow. 

"So we need to find a way to separate them. Isolate the rouge so that the prince can't swoop in and save him again." The guard puffs out his chest. 

"Would you like me to send out orders." The emperor smiles. 

"Yes."

* * *

"Okay Mr. Emo Mullet just because you've had magic your entire life and I just found out about it one second ago doesn't mean you're some expert or something.  _I didn't do magic_." Keith glares at him. 

" _Lance_. I'm telling you, there's no other possible way other than you did magic." Lance snorts. 

"I still think you did that all on your own." Under the blanket it had started to warm slightly, but that didn't change the fact that the room was still ice cold. And that Lance's fingers were still ice cubes. And that Lance's eyes were still that pale blue that was almost as white as snowflakes. 

"If you don't believe me look at your eyes," Keith says, rolling his eyes.

"How the cheese am I supposed to look at my own eyes?" Keith huffs, turning Lance's head towards the mirror in the bedroom. Lance glares, but is also kind of upset when Keith's hand's leave his face because they are the only warmth in the room. He is about to protest when he catches sight of his own reflection. 

And then, he screams. 

"LANCE!" Keith shouts, slamming his hand over Lance's mouth. Lance flashes him one of the most annoyed looks ever. 

"Can you not be loud for like, two seconds? People are still sleeping." Lance huffs, crossing his arms, looking at Keith pointedly. Keith huffs, removing his hand. 

"What did you do to me, mullet?" Lance says, accusation dripping in his voice. Keith looks mildly offended. 

"What did  _I_ do?  _HOW CAN I POSSIBLY CHANGE YOUR EYE COLOR?_ " Lance rolls his eyes. 

"I don't know you're Keith. You have magic you can probably do anything you want." Keith huffs, wanting to strangle Lance. He holds back, considering if he did he might actually be hung. 

"That's not how magic works,  _Lance_."

"Then how does it work!" Lance says, throwing his hands up. That proves to be a mistake as they leave the warmth of the blanket. Lance feels like his fingers are going to fall off. He quickly wraps himself tighter. Keith huffs.

"Look there are five types of magic." Lance nods, looking somewhat interested but at the same time completely annoyed with every word that comes out of Keith's mouth. 

"There's Earth, Fire, Ice, Air, and Mental." Lance snorts. 

"Mental? Really?" Keith shoots him a glare and Lance shuts up. 

"Fire, Air, and Ice are the purest form of the five types because there's no fluctuations between them. Either you can summon fire or you can summon ice. There isn't the weird middle grounds and categories like in earth and mental magic. So usually that magic is more common." Lance furrows his brow, obviously lost. Keith continues. 

"Mental and Earth are where things get messy. These can take many different forms. Sometimes earth is moving massive rocks or breaking them to pieces. Other times its growing a delicate flower. Sometimes its both." Lance chews his lip. 

"Mental is a disaster. The powers can range anywhere from mind control to seeing the future."

"Wait hold up.  _Mind control_?" Keith nods, pursing his lips. 

"Okay.... what does this have to do with anything?" Keith huffs. 

"Because each person with magic can only use the  _one specific type unless aided by another magical artifact,_ " Keith says, as if it were obvious. Lance stares at him blankly.

"What about the teleportation thing." Keith huffs. 

"There are common spells that even people with the least amount of magic can do. They're common spells." Lance frowns. 

"Still don't understand how this applies to me doing magic." Keith takes a deep breath. 

"The only way someone can use two complete opposite types of magic like fire and ice at the same time is through dark magic. And trust me, if I was using dark magic, you would know." Lance looks down at his hands. 

"So it really was me?" Keith nods. 

"Yeah." There's a moment of silence. The cold doesn't go away. 

"Lance?" Keith says finally, his teeth chattering. Lance looks up at him. 

"You don't know how to control it do you?" Lance sighs, drawing his knees to his chest. 

"Of course I don't." For a moment, Lance thinks that Keith’s going to yell at him, but his voice is actually surprisingly gentle. 

“I’ll help you figure it out.” Lance pulls the blankets up to his face. Keith turns to face him, their knees touching slightly. The blanket has a hard time stretching around both of them so Keith drops it, summoning fire into his hand. There’s a burst of warmth and Lance feels releieved. But that still doesn’t change the current situation.

”When I was little I was constantly burning up. I would always wake up from a dream sweaty and my skin would be boiling hot.” Lance furrows his brow, not quite understanding.

“It was worse in the summer. Shiro kept having to enchant my room so that there was a constant breeze through it so I could have some relief.” Lance opens his mouth to ask who Shiro is, but he figured he may as well let Keith continue with his story.

“When I was about seven Shiro finally caught on to what was going on. I think he found out when I scorched my sheets after a bad dream or something I don’t know. He told our parents that I was a pyrokinetic.” Lance chews his lip. The way Keith was describing always being hot in the summer... never being cold... it reminded Lance of his own life.

”We went to a councilor or something to help me learn how to control my powers. They went on about how I had a strong connection with fire for it to effect me in this way, I don’t know I don’t remember much of it. But I do remember what she told me. They said that the elements were connected to the mind and our emotions and in order to find a balance you needed to calm your mind.” Lance looks conflicted  

“I don’t understand what that means.” Keith frowns, as if he were also unsure.

”Close your eyes.” Lance does. He hears Keith take a deep breath.

”Think of things that make you happy. Positive thoughts.” Lance furrows his brow, thinking hard. Keith frowns at him.

”What?” Lance says, opening one eye. He was glaring, which was kind of unsettling when paired with the icy blue of his eyes. 

“You’re not doing it right.” Lance scoffs.

“Then how are you supposed to do it?” Keith shrugs.

“Clear your mind.” Lance mumbles something but closes his eyes again, the palms of his hands facing upward. His lips are open slightly as he takes deep breaths. The room warms slightly, but not enough. Keith frown deepens as he tries to think of a way to speed up the process. Usually for people that were first starting out you started small. When Keith first learned to control fire he started by lighting a candle and putting it out. Lance wasn’t ready to defrost their entire room yet.

Then Keith recalled something he once read in a book. Something about fire and ice and... he couldn’t remember the exact word. It started with an S of some sorts if he recalled correctly. He takes a deep breath and places his hands into Lance’s open palms. 

Of course, the first thing Lance does is jump, his eyes flying open as he rips his hands away.

“What was that, mullet!!” Keith huffs.

“I’m trying something.”

”Now is not the time to discover your sexuality.”  Keith blows a puff of air through his nostrils.

”Not that,” Keith says, frowning at him. Lance huffs.

”Then what?” 

“Just give me your hands.” Lance sighs and does. He immediately feels warmth as Keith’s hands touch his. They glow with a faint orange and red light. Lance’s mouth hangs open.

”Now do what you were doing before.” Lance sighs and closes his eyes, his shoulders more relaxed. Keith closes his eyes too, focusing on his own power and almost pushing the warmth into Lance. He didn’t know how it worked, but he was sure it wasn’t the way it did.

He felt Lance’s grip tighten on him for a moment, but that was as long as it took for Lance to get used to the bond forming between them. It was almost like Keith took a rope and tied it to Lance’s hand. Right now, that rope was glowing with the combined power of the two, linking their heart rates, their breaths, and their minds. Keith saw flashes of family members run through Lance’s head, including princess Allura. He saw the beach as the water sparkled in the sunlight and felt the warm sand on his feet. He heard the waves crash on the beach.

But there was more. More stuff that Keith knew wasn’t from Lance. He saw his own memories.  He saw Shiro talking to him about bullies at school and saw himself smile at him and hug him. He saw Hunk and Pidge, both laughing wildly as Keith had his own, hesitant laughs. He even saw Adam, ruffling his hair even though he knew Keith hated it.

The room went back to its normal temperature and when Lance opened his eyes, they were back to their normal blue.

”Woah,” is all he says. Keith feels the string draw tighter. He lets go of Lance’s hands.

”What... just happened?” Keith chews his lip.

”I’m guessing that we got our powers to link up somehow.” Lance frowns.

”Huh.” He opens his mouth as if to say something else, but he is rudely interrupted as the door flies open and an axe swings right towards his face. 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yay I actually updated on time!!

Keith barely has enough time to push Lance to the ground before the axe imbeds itself in the wall behind where Lance’s head used to be. Lance scoffs, turning to him.

“RUDE!” He rubs his elbows, then looks over at the source of the threat. His eyes widen and Keith isn’t sure if he wants to look at what it is. He turns his head slowly and is met with the twisted smirk of their foe. His eyes glow yellow as he reaches his hand out. The axe flies into his hand and Keith jumps back, pulling Lance back up.

“Who is this guy?” Lance asks, raising his fists uncertainty. Keith can guarantee that he’s never been in a fight before in his life. This is a disaster.

“Galra Solider.” Lance turns to him, but before he can say anything the axe flies towards them once again. They dive in opposite directions, the axe just barely nicking them. Keith leaps to his feet, summoning fire to his palms. It erupts around his fists and he charges, ducking the enemies attacks and attacking with a vicious energy. Lance looks around for some way to help, but he feels useless. Who is he kidding? He’s a prince that close to never leaves the castle and he didn’t even know he had magic until a few seconds ago. He was not cut out for this.

His eye catches on Keith’s belt. He put it aside before they went to bed. He sees the knife strapped to it and darts for it, pulling it out and clenching it in his fist. Definitely not like a bow. God, why did his dad teach him archery instead of sword fighting? But it doesn’t matter. He looks over at Keith. There’s a deep gash bleeding from his arm and his movements are starting to get sluggish with fatigue. Lance let’s out a whooping battle cry and charges, cutting in front of Keith.

Keith’s eyes widen in surprise, definitely not expecting this. He stumbles back, catching his breath for one, blissful moment before the weight of the situation falls on him. Lance can’t take him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Keith shouts. The Solider is about twice Lance’s size and Lance’s knife, Keith’s knife, looks puny next to his giant axe. Lance grits his teeth, for once at a loss for a witty response. Keith grunts, stumbling forward and pushing him out of the way.

“Go. Out the window.” Lance looks at him with confusion.

“What?” The room is painfully hot. Sweat is beading down both their faces and one look at Keith tells Lance all he needs to know.

“Oh no. You are not sacrificing yourself to let me get away.” They dodge another attack.

“Why not?” Keith growls. “Your army does it for you all the time.” A pained expression passes across Lance’s face. That moment caught Keith off guard, earning him a punch right in the face. He falls to the ground, grunting as a ringing sound fills his ears.

“KEITH!!” Lance drops his knife, dropping down beside him. That proved to be a mistake as he felt the axe swoop by his head. Lance grunts, turning back to his opponent. He looks around the room for a way out. There’s a window open but they’re on the third floor. He would fall to his death if he even thought about jumping out.

Unless...

Lance ducked as the axe flew at him yet again, grabbing the knife off the floor. He felt a surge of energy from it, a kind that he hadn’t felt before and he looks over at Keith. There’s a pull in the pit of his stomach, similar to the one before. The knife lengthens into a sword, ice spikes jutting out from the edge of the blade. He doesn’t hesitate, just charges.

In his minds eye he sees someone. He doesn’t know who he is, but he looks almost similar to Keith, with black hair and grey eyes. He was big, much bigger than Lance was— or was he Keith?

“That’s it Keith. Remember, turn away from the attacker, never face them head on,” the guy said. Lance felt his name tickle at the edge of his consciousness, but he couldn’t grab onto it. He realized that this was one of Keiths memories, but it helped him all the same.

He grips the blade tightly in his hand and step towards his attacker. He feels power coursing through his body, and he’s not sure if it’s his or Keith’s, but it doesn’t matter. The Solider moves to swing and he spins away from the attack, causing him to stumble. Lance is there in an instant, stabbing the icy sword through his back. Frost creeps around the wound and Lance pulls the blade out as the Solider falls.

There’s a pang of sadness as he wonders if he just killed him. But he doesn’t have time to worry about that now. As the adrenaline drains out of his system he feels the thread between him and Keith loosen, but not like it did before. This was something much graver.

“KEITH!” He rushes over, turning him over in his lap. It looks bad. Really bad.

“Keith? Mullet? Buddy?” Keith sputters and Lance could cry he’s so relieved. He starts to pull him up.

“C’mon buddy. Let’s get out of here.” He starts to make his way to the door, only to find it blocked by more of the soldiers with glowing yellow eyes.

“NOPE!” He turns around, heading for the window and hoping this insane idea works. Knives and arrows whistle last his ear, one even embedding itself in his leg, but he doesn’t even care. All he can think about is Keith, his breath getting shallower and shallower.

An icy chill fills the room again, but this time it’s controlled. Frost creeps up the window and Lance takes the nearest heavy object and chucks it at the window. It shatters, and then he’s jumping.

Him and Keith are free falling and he honestly has never been more scared in his life. He it takes a moment before his feet hit something solid. Ice.

His hands are out in front of him and a ramp of ice forms, slowing down his descent. He sighs in relief, adjusting his hold on Keith and burying his face in his hair. He was so light, Lance realized now. It was concerning.

They made it to the ground and Lance sighed in relief, hugging Keith tight.

“We made it buddy.” Keith groaned and his eyes flied open. For a moment Lance thought they flashed yellow, but no. They were still the same, judgmental violet.

“I don’t feel so good,” Keith says, looking like he was going to be sick. Lance rolls his eyes.

“You could’ve died!”

“Wait— where are we?”

“Outside the hotel. YOU would’ve been dead if my heroic ass didn’t swoop in and saved you.” Keith blinked at him once. Then twice.

“What?”

“I didn’t know royals could swear.”

“Fuck you.” Keith groaned, clutching his side.

“You need to see a doctor,” Lance says. Keith groans.

“Do you happen to know any?” Lance frowns some more, deep in thought. His expression brightens.

“YES!” There’s a beat of silence.

“...Who?” Lance starts limping back into the street. Keith stops him.

“What are you doing?”

“Going to the Doctor.” Keith takes a deep breath.

“We need to clean ourselves up first. We can’t just waltz down the street.”

“Right...” Keith almost feels sorry for the shameful expression that passes over his face. He lowers his voice, trying to use a softer voice. He’s never been anything but snarky, so it’s almost odd.

“We aren’t far from Pidge’s. We can go there to treat your leg so it doesn’t get infected and then you can take me to the doctor.” Lance looks down, as if not realizing he hurt his leg. He looks back up at Keith.

“Okay,” He says sheepishly. They start to limp towards Pidge’s shop, keeping to the shadows so nobody sees them.... Which makes Keith’s colder. He shivers, moving closer to Lance unwillingly. He’s too weak to even think about summoning fire.

“You cold?” Lance asks, maybe a little teasingly. Keith glares at him, pulling away. That proves to be a mistake as he almost falls over. Lance catches him, then shrugs off his cloak.

“Here,” He says, draping it over Keith’s shoulders. Keith freezes for a moment, looking over at Lance, gaping.

“S’my fault for not grabbing your cloak,” He says, scratching his neck. Keith barely stops a giggle from escaping his chest. Really? A giggle? You’re better than this.

“C’mon. I think we’re on the same street as Pidge’s.” Keith nods, completely speechless. He’s not complaining, Lance’s cloak was warm. Really warm considering it was the cloak of an ice prince. Keith pulls it tightly around himself, leaning on Lance for support and trying his hardest not to blush. He really hated playing the damsel in distress, but Lance made a damn good hero.

When they get to the small little shop with messy window displays, they immediately know something is wrong. The door is blown off its hinges and the room seems messier than usual. They look at each other before slowly moving inside.

It’s a mess. There’s a shattered crystal ball, things are knocked off shelves as if a bull trampled through the room. Pidge’s emergency bag was ripped off the hook and there was a stillness to the room that Keith had never felt before. He gulps, making his way over to the counter. There was a blinking red light under it and it vaguely looked like the button at the Shirogane/Kogane household that was under the cabinets in the kitchen. Keith hears a noise behind him and turns. Lance looks a little bewildered as a bunch of stuff falls to the ground. Keith limps over to him.

“S-Sorry—“ He says, his face going red. But Keith ignores him, his attention going to something on the wall. It looks like a piece of paper stuck to the wall. Keith takes it off.

“What is it?”

“It’s a note.” Lance gives him a look.

“It’s from Pidge.”

“What does it say?” Keith looks at it, trying to read Pidge’s barely legible handwriting.

“It just says ‘Galra Soldiers. Don’t come looking for me.’ And then a bunch of scribbles.”

“Galra soldiers? Isn’t that who just attacked us.” Keith frowns. Then sets the note back on the shelve. Lance picks it up.

“You mean we’re not going to go look for her?” Keith shrugs, digging for the first aid kit.

“Dude you are bad at social cues.” Keith turns to him to flash him a glare.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean when someone says ‘don’t come looking for me’ they either are playing hide-and-seek or they’re in big trouble.” Keith rolls his eyes.

“Pidge can handle herself. We need to focus on getting you to the castle.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” Lance runs his hands through his hair.

“Earlier you said I let soldiers fight my battles for me, sacrifice themselves for me.”

“I didn’t mean that—“

“Let me finished. I’m done watching people give up everything just to save some prince that can’t even go outside in the winter. A prince that they never see.”

“Lance—“

“Pidge is in trouble and I’m going to save her.” There’s a beat of silence. Then Keith grunts.

“You are the most princely prince I have ever met.” Lance flashes him a wide grin and Keith finds himself smiling despite himself. He looks away from Lance, feeling a pang in his heart.

“C’mere. I need to bandage your leg.” Lance limps over to him, sitting down. Relief floods through him. He didn’t even realize how much pain he was in until he sat down. He takes off his shoe, rolling up his pants. Keith gets to work, starting by wrapping bandages around the wound. Lance watches him, getting a good look at Keith for the first time. His jaw is set stubbornly and his black bangs fall into his eyes, forcing him to keep having to push them back. He’s handsome, not that Lance would ever admit that, but he can see all the red gashes on Keith’s arms. He looks terrible. His face is pale, like he just barely cheated death, and there are bruises under his eyes. His back shirt is torn on one side, soaked in blood. Lance pulls his leg away and Keith looked up at him, about to protest. Lance puts a finger over his lips.

“Oh no. You almost died I am not letting you bleed out trying to help me.” Keith grunts, running his fingers through his hair.

“I’m fine Lance.” Lance glares at him.

“Keith honestly it’s a miracle you haven’t died yet. Are you always like this?” Keith’s eyes narrow.

“Yes.” Lance groans.

“Let me help.” He hesitates.

“Fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea I had at like, 1am that I figured would help me get back into writing. I may be a little rusty so I apologize


End file.
